


Hide and Seek

by literaryoblivion



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Past Lives, Dementia, Episode: s03e18 Riddled, F/M, Forests, Gen, Hallucinations, Hide and Seek, Insomnia, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Panic Attacks, Past, Sad, Spoilers, Stilinski Family Feels, Young Derek, Young Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-12
Packaged: 2018-01-12 01:50:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1180489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryoblivion/pseuds/literaryoblivion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was little things at first.</p><p>Things like, his mommy would wake him up in the middle of the night and make him pancakes and bacon. It was fun, and even though he was kind of tired, by the time the pancakes were done and the bacon was crispy, he’d be awake enough to enjoy them. His mommy would make him laugh, almost spit out his chocolate milk, while she told him about the strange things she saw that day, like a lizard man down the street or a girl she saw turn into a fox in the alley.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hide and Seek

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to tag for anything that might be triggery, but if you notice anything else that it should be tagged let me know!
> 
> Basically this is the fault of my own brain after that episode and the information we got about Claudia and [Jade](http://whittenomore.tumblr.com) and [Beth](http://attoliancrown.tumblr.com) egging me on on Twitter.

It was little things at first.

Things like, his mommy would wake him up in the middle of the night and make him pancakes and bacon. It was fun, and even though he was kind of tired, by the time the pancakes were done and the bacon was crispy, he’d be awake enough to enjoy them. His mommy would make him laugh, almost spit out his chocolate milk, while she told him about the strange things she saw that day, like a lizard man down the street or a girl she saw turn into a fox in the alley.

Things like, his mommy would take him to the grocery store after school and buy a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk even though he knew they had bought those same things the day before and weren’t out yet.

Things like, he would ask her a question at dinner about where Daddy was, and she would stare into space until he got up and pressed his little hands to her face to bring her out of her daze. And she’d smile and kiss his nose and ask what he wanted like she hadn’t heard him.

Sometimes, she’d keep him home from school even though he wasn’t sick, or she’d pull him out early, and she’d take him to the park or the movies. They’d get ice cream afterwards, and he loved it. Everyone would be jealous if they knew how cool his mommy was, but she’d tell him to keep it a secret. That it was their thing that no one else could know about. Not even Daddy.

And he liked it, liked being with just his mommy while they went on crazy adventures and did cool things the other kids didn’t get to do. He’d tell Scott about how his mommy saw glowing red eyes that she thinks was a werewolf while she jogged in the preserve and that she was going to take Stiles to see, and Scott would say it wasn’t fair. That he wanted to see red eyes, too. And Stiles would preen because his mommy was the _coolest_.

But then things started getting worse.

Things like, she would wake him up in the middle of the night, but instead of making pancakes, she’d tell Stiles that they had to leave, that they weren’t safe. She’d take him to the preserve in nothing but pajamas and hold his hand while they walked around. He went with her because he believed she knew where they were going even though she wouldn’t tell him. She’d say that when they got there she’d know.

And she’d stop in the middle of the woods and stand there with Stiles’s little hand clasped in hers just breathing and staring out into the trees like she was waiting for something or someone. And after a few minutes she’d look down at Stiles and ask him why they were there in the woods and where his shoes were and his coat, like she wasn’t the one that led them there, rushed him out of bed and the house.

She’d get a look of concern when he tried to tell her and explain, and she’d pick him up and hold him close to her chest and whisper that she was sorry. That they needed to get back home before Daddy got off his shift, that Stiles couldn’t tell Daddy what happened.

Things like, she would take him to the grocery store after school and buy ten boxes of batteries to go into the 5 flashlights in her basket along with several blankets because she was freezing and it was dark and they needed to stay warm. Stiles would try to tell her that it was May, that the weather was great, but she’d shake her head while she shivered, her eyes dull while she stared down at Stiles.

Things like, at dinner when Stiles would try to talk to her, she would stare and stare, the bags under her eyes from not sleeping so bad they made little Stiles worry. But no matter how hard he tried to get her attention, pat her face, kiss her cheeks, nuzzle into her neck, she was still, lifeless. It wasn’t until Stiles would scream at her to “Come back! Wake up!” that she’d finally snap out of it. He’d say he was sorry for yelling and she’d wrap him in her arms and tell him it’s okay while he wet her shirt with tears.

Sometimes he’d ask to stay home from school because his mommy looked too tired to drive him, barely able to pour him a bowl of cereal. She’d say okay and pat his head while he told her he’d pour his own milk and that she could go back to bed. And after he ate and put his bowl in the sink, he would climb into bed with her, slip under the covers, and lift her arm up and place it back over his shoulders so he could burrow closer to her.

It was then that his daddy started to notice and worry.

He would hear them talking while he did his homework. His mommy would tell his daddy that she was fine, that she was just tired, that it was no big deal. His daddy would look sad, tell her that maybe they should see a doctor, but she’d yell at him whenever he suggested it, so he stopped mentioning it.

But Stiles noticed when Daddy started taking him to school instead of mommy. He noticed when his daddy started looking just as tired as his mommy. His daddy wouldn’t let him stay home from school when he wasn’t sick. His daddy would stay at home with a stack of papers in front of him during dinner. His mommy didn’t wake him up in the middle of the night for pancakes or to walk in the woods anymore.

Until one night, she did.

~

“Come on, Stiles, baby, we have to go.”

“Mommy?” Stiles says rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed. “What time is it?”

“Time to go, come on,” Claudia says, standing up from where she was perched on the edge of Stiles’s bed. The clock on the wall reads 10:30, and Claudia is in her nightgown, with a long coat over it.

“Where are we going?” Stiles asks as he pushes the covers off of his legs and climbs out of bed.

“Get your shoes on. I want to show you something.”

“Is it a surprise?”

She nods, “Yeah, it’s a surprise. Come on, honey.”

Stiles stumbles blearily to his chest of drawers for a pair of socks, and Claudia helps him put them on because he can barely keep his eyes open enough to put them on himself. She helps with his tennis shoes, too.

“Go on downstairs and get the keys for me,” she says as she pushes him out of his room.

Stiles yawns and bobs his head and makes his way down the stairs. He falls asleep against the wall next to the front door, the car keys in his hand, while he waits for Claudia to join him.

She picks him up and carries him to the car, putting him in the passenger seat and fastening the seat belt around him. He wakes up a little to smile up at her and she rubs his nose with hers before she pulls back and shuts his door.

He falls back asleep when they pull out of the driveway and sleeps the whole way. When he wakes up, they are parked at the edge of the woods on a dirt path.

“Are we there?” Stiles says around a yawn. He rubs his eyes and sits up a little in his seat to see out the window, but it’s all dark.

“Almost,” Claudia says. She unbuckles her seatbelt, and Stiles follows suit, opening his door to step out on the dirt floor. “Come on,” she says tilting her head and lifting her shoulder, her hand outstretched for Stiles to take and follow her.

He grins, running to stand next to her, taking her hand and desperately trying to keep up with her strides as she walks further into the forest.

“What is it?” he asks, sounding more awake then he had earlier, and excited to see this surprise.

“You’ll see,” she says, squeezing his hand as she quickens their pace.

The trees get thicker the deeper in they go, and the moonlight just barely breaks through the canopy of trees, lighting up patches of earth here and there. Stiles can’t really see where he’s going, so he holds tighter to Claudia’s hand, not wanting to get lost.

Suddenly Claudia stops, Stiles almost running into her leg when she does. She crouches down and gestures for Stiles to do the same next to her.

“Shhhh,” she whispers and points to a clearing in the trees. “Do you see them?”

Stiles strains and squints, but he doesn’t anything but the low hanging branches and leaves of the surrounding trees.

“No. See what, Mommy? What is it?”

“Fireflies. Can’t you see them?”

Stiles looks again, trying so hard to see what Claudia sees, but all he sees is darkness.

He frowns, “I don’t see them, Mommy.”

“You can’t?” Her brow furrows as she looks down at him. “But there’s so many of them. I bet there’s thousands of them.”

“There are only trees. Why can’t I see the fireflies, Mommy?” Stiles is upset, on the verge of tears because maybe there’s something wrong with his eyes or him and that’s why he can’t see the glowing light of the fireflies.

Claudia pulls him closer to her and runs her fingers through his hair, “I don’t know, baby.” He hugs her and she hugs him back, rocking him a little. “Hey, I’ve got an idea,” she says, her hands on his shoulders holding him away from her. “Let’s play hide and seek.”

Stiles is weary of the idea, but his mommy is smiling wide at him, and she doesn’t do that very much anymore. “In the woods?” he asks.

“Yeah! It’ll be fun. An adventure! I bet there’s so many great hiding places out here.”

“Okay,” he says with a sniff, warming up to the idea of playing.

“You hide first. I’ll count.”

“To twenty?” he asks, standing up and brushing the dirt off his pants.

“To twenty,” she says, pulling Stiles in for a quick kiss before standing up her self. Stiles gets himself ready to take off running, and his mommy winks at him before turning around and putting her hands over her eyes. “One… two… three…”

Stiles takes off in the trees, looking for the best spot he can find. He runs and runs and gets so far that he has to stand completely still and hold his breath to hear his mommy counting. He goes a little further to a huge rock, and he throws himself behind it, grinning to himself because his mommy won’t ever find him here! He sits behind the rock, catching his breath, his heartbeat returning to normal, as he waits for his mommy to discover him.

He waits and he waits and he waits.

He’s starting to shiver and he wraps his arms around himself for warmth. He almost falls asleep but with every shiver he wakes himself up.

He peeks over the edge of the rock because maybe his mommy needs some help, but he doesn’t see her anywhere.

He thinks about waiting a little longer, but he’s cold and the ground isn’t comfortable. He decides that he should find his mommy because maybe his hiding spot was too good, and that’s no fun if you can’t find anyone in hide and seek.

He goes back to where he thinks his mom had seen the fireflies but no one is there. “Mommy?” he calls out. “I don’t want to play anymore. Can we go home?” he yells. The only response he gets is the sound of crickets and beetles, the leaves rustling in the breeze.

“Mommy!” he shouts, walking the way they came to that spot from the car.

Only, he can’t remember if this is the way to the car because he wasn’t paying attention, and all the trees look the same.

“Mommy!” he cries again, his voice higher with fear and desperation. “Where are you?” He keeps walking, but the more he walks, the more panicked he gets.

“Please! Mommy! I want to go home.” The tears are flowing now, and he’s trying so hard to keep them back but he’s lost and alone, and what if no one finds him? What if something gets him? What if that something has already gotten his mommy and he wasn’t there to protect her? To keep her safe?

He sinks to the ground, trying to take in as much breath as he can but it isn’t enough he can’t seem to breathe in enough. He feels so small, like he’s drowning, because he can’t breathe, his lungs aren’t working and he doesn’t know what to do or where his mommy is and he just wants his mommy and to go home.

He feels a hand on his shoulder, and he rears back, scrambling to get away from the thing, the monster that took his mommy.

“Hey, you okay?” he hears someone say and his eyes register a boy standing in front of him. The other boy looks older and his hands are out with his palms up placating like he means no harm.

It takes Stiles a minute or two, but his breathing finally returns, and it doesn’t feel like he’s underwater with no air. Slowly, he nods in answer to the boy’s question.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” the boy says, takes a few steps closer to Stiles.

“Have you seen my mommy?” Stiles asks, looking up at the boy with tears in his eyes, his cheeks wet and dirty.

The other boy shakes his head, but before Stiles can start to cry again, the boy holds out his hand. “I’ll help you find her.”

Stiles wipes his nose with his sleeve and takes the boy’s hand to help him up. When they are both standing, the boy doesn’t drop Stiles’s hand, and Stiles doesn’t want to let go, so he doesn’t.

They walk, hand in hand, in silence for a while, until Stiles asks, “Why are you out here? Do you live out in the woods?”

The other boy laughs and shakes his head. “My family lives on the edge of the woods. In a house,” he adds before Stiles can make another comment. “I come out here sometimes to think or get away from my family.”

“Aren’t you afraid to get lost?”

“I can find my way back pretty well. I’m a way better tracker than Laura. She’s my older sister.”

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Derek. What’s yours?”

“Stiles.”

“That’s weird.” Stiles makes a face at him and opens his mouth to defend himself, but Derek adds. “I like it. It’s nice to meet you, Stiles.” He gives Stiles’s hand a squeeze, and Stiles grins and squeezes back.

“You, too. It’s nice to meet you, too, Derek.” They both look at each other and smile and go back to walking through the trees.

When they reach the dirt path that Stiles remembers, Derek stops.

“If you follow this path back it’ll take you to the main road,” Derek says pointing in the direction he means. “Your mom and dad are looking for you. I can hear them.”

“You can? I don’t hear anything.”

Derek blushes a little and shrugs. “Just follow the path, they’ll find you. I better get back,” Derek says gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder to a large house in the distance.

“That’s your house?” Stiles says in awe because it’s huge!

Derek nods. “Yeah.”

Stiles wraps his arms around Derek’s waist and says, “Thank you,” into his stomach. Derek hesitates before hugging Stiles back and patting his head.

“You’re welcome. But, don’t play in the woods anymore at night. It’s dangerous.”

Stiles nods and steps back from Derek. “Okay.” He takes a few more steps up the path and turns back to Derek to wave. “Bye!” he says, and he beams when Derek waves back.

When Stiles turns back a little further up the road, Derek is gone.

Once the main road is in his sights, Stiles can tell Derek was right. His mommy is standing on the edge in tears talking to his daddy, who looks very upset. There are flashing police lights around them and several other people talking nearby. Someone shouts that they see him, and his mommy and daddy look up and spot him too.

They both come rushing forward, but his daddy gets to him first. He lifts him up and squeezes him so hard Stiles can hardly breathe. His mommy crushes him two, making a Stiles sandwich. The both kiss all over his face and tell him that they were so worried. He tries to tell them that he found the best hide and seek spot because mommy never found him, but he got scared and gave up. He tells them that he was worried Mommy was hurt because he couldn’t find her, but that this boy Derek found him and helped him.

His daddy carries him all the way back to his police car and buckles him in the backseat. As soon as he’s in, his tiredness finally catches up to him, and he yawns, resting his head against the seatbelt when he waits for his parents to take him home. He can hear snippets of their muted conversation outside, something about how this can never happen again, that his mommy is going to the doctor to take some tests.

Stiles thinks that it’s weird the doctor would make his mommy take a test because she’s not in school. Maybe he can help her because he’s really smart.

The last thing Stiles thinks before he falls asleep is that Derek was nice and he hopes they become friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Man I'm sorry guys. I made myself sad while writing it, if it makes you feel better? Hopefully the touch of a hint of Sterek made it a little okay.
> 
> ETA: Also, as someone pointed out in the comments, these symptoms are not entirely accurate or indicative of FTD. I did absolutely NO research before writing this. I just kind of wrote based off of what Stiles has been experiencing in the show, my own ideas of possible scenarios, and from those I know in my personal life that have suffered similar diseases. Please forgive me for the inaccuracy.
> 
> Feel free to scream or cry and/or yell at me about this or Teen Wolf on [my tumblr](http://literaryoblivion.tumblr.com) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/lit_oblivion)


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